automotivebriefs
10:00in productionCh. 1 · Born in Montreal/ 10:00 · ceiling 15 min
Sports cars

Alfa Romeo Montreal

Gandini didn’t style the Montreal—he engineered its silhouette, then made it drive like one.

The Alfa Romeo Montreal is a Gandini-designed 2+2 coupe that began as a 1967 concept at Expo 67 in Montreal and entered production from 1970 to 1977. Its 2,593 cc 90° V8 engine was bespoke, dry-sump, cross-plane, and SPICA-injected—producing around 200 PS—but shared its chassis and suspension with the Giulia GTV. It embodies Gandini’s priority on vehicle architecture over styling, and its 3,917-unit production run reflects its status as a limited-series production car, not a prototype or coachbuilt one.

Chapters & takeaways4
  1. 0:56
    Born in Montreal

    The name came from the crowd, not the boardroom.

  2. 2:30
    Architecture First

    Gandini solved for structure and assembly—not just shape.

  3. 4:21
    V8 on Giulia Bones

    A new V8, but no new chassis: engineering compromise was deliberate.

  4. 6:08
    Limited, Not Bespoke

    3,917 units built across multiple facilities—rare, but never hand-built.

Worth your time?

Yes. Drive the whole thing.

4/ 5
What works
  • resolves tension between show-car drama and road-car function
  • prioritises low centre of gravity via dry-sump V8 placement
  • uses 2+2 body for visibility and proportion—not just theatre
What does not
  • uses the 33 Stradale’s V8
  • has a bespoke chassis
  • was hand-built
Drive it if
  • people who study how architecture informs driving feel
  • those interested in Gandini’s mechanistic design philosophy
Skip it if
  • collectors seeking rarity alone
  • drivers expecting modern chassis dynamics
The written brief1 min read

What the car is and where it came from

A 1970–1977 Alfa Romeo sports car, launched as a 1967 Bertone concept at Expo 67 in Montreal. Named unofficially by the public, then adopted officially. Designed by Marcello Gandini as a 2-door 2+2 coupe using Giulia components; the production version added a bespoke V8 but retained Giulia GTV’s chassis and suspension.

How it works, in terms someone would actually use

Front-engine, rear-wheel drive layout. Uses Giulia GTV’s double wishbone front suspension and live rear axle with limited-slip differential. Driven through a five-speed ZF manual gearbox. The 2,593 cc 90° V8 is dry-sump lubricated, cross-plane, fuel-injected by SPICA.

What it gets right

It resolves the tension between show-car drama and road-car function. The 2+2 coupe body serves visibility, ingress, and proportion—not just theatre. The V8 placement and dry-sump design prioritise low centre of gravity and drivetrain integration over packaging convenience.

What it does not

It does not offer a bespoke chassis. It does not use the 33 Stradale’s V8. It does not depart from Giulia GTV running gear. It does not scale beyond 3,917 units.

What it changed

It proved Gandini could translate radical concept architecture—designed for impact and mechanism—into a series-legal sports car without abandoning structural logic or mechanical honesty.

Who it is for, and who it is not

It is for people who study how architecture informs driving feel—not just aesthetics. It is not for collectors seeking rarity alone, nor for drivers expecting modern chassis dynamics or powertrain refinement.

Is it worth your time

Yes—if you care about Gandini’s architecture-first approach applied to a production Alfa, and want to understand how a concept born at Expo 67 became a rare, V8-powered evolution of the Giulia GTV.

Same garage · Sports cars4 of 93
9:37
Ford RS200Ghia · 1984The Ford RS200 is a purpose-built homologation special: mid-engined, all-wheel drive, plastic-fiberglass body by Ghia, built by Reliant in Shenstone to meet FIA Group B’s 200-unit rule. It exists only to enable a rally car—not as a design statement, luxury product, or road-going evolution.
10:11
Nissan 180SXNissan · 1989The Nissan 180SX is a Japanese-market fastback built from 1988 to 1998 on the S13 platform. It featured pop-up headlights and a liftgate. It launched in March 1989 and was sold exclusively through Nissan Prince Stores alongside the Skyline and Silvia. It used the CA18DET turbo engine initially, then upgraded to the SR20DET in 1991 and added the SR20DE in 1996.
9:26
Renault Clio V6 RSRenault Sport · 2001The Renault Clio V6 RS is a radical departure from the hot hatch formula: mid-engined, rear-wheel drive, hand-built, and deliberately impractical. It exists as a mechanical argument—against front-drive orthodoxy, against shared-platform economics, against the idea that a ‘hatch’ must behave like one. Its legacy is not volume or versatility, but velocity of idea.
8:58
Saleen S7Phil Frank · 2000The Saleen S7 is an American hand-built, high-performance sports car. It debuted on August 19, 2000, at the Monterey Historic Races. It was the first fully proprietary car produced by Saleen. Phil Frank contributed the body and interior CAD design and development. Its all-aluminium engine is a bored-and-stroked derivative of Ford's 351 Windsor small block with Cleveland-style canted valve heads. It is not based on the FE big-block. It produces 550 hp (410 kW) at 6,400 rpm.
Up next in Automotive

Alfa Romeo SZ

Robert Opron · 1989 · 10:45

CAD made the SZ ugly on purpose—and that was the point.

10:45